Andrzej Buko

One of the key issues regarding the Middle Ages in the Polish lands is the beginning of the inhumation funerary rite. Among the Slavs, abandonment of cremation and the beginning of inhuming the deceased, in different areas at different times, is most often associated with the adoption of Christianity. In the case of Poland, this took place, as attested by written sources, in the second half of the 10th century, around the year 966. However, so far this issue has not been clearly resolved.
The nine texts included in this publication discuss various issues related to the beginnings of inhumation: when it began to be practiced, based on what data and using what methods can we determine its origins, where the earliest inhumation cemeteries were discovered and who was the first to practice this type of burial custom.
The book is addressed to historians and archaeologists, both researchers and students, as well as to a wide audience interested in the Polish Middle Ages and the beginnings of the Polish state.

The circumstances surrounding the birth of the Polish state have long elicited fascination. The events of those times, as recorded by a range of chroniclers, convey the figure of Mieszko I as a leader fighting alongside his brothers, with varying fortune, on the western borderlands of the state then emerging. Only one of those brothers is known by name – Czcibor – whereas about the other we know only that he died during a clash with Wichman, the exiled German graf (count). The few and laconic written sources we have do, however, bear witness to a dynasty that in only just a few years – most probably between 962 and 966 – expanded its realm from virtual non-existence into organizational and territorial greatness. Indeed, as the emissary from Cordoba, Ibrahim ibn Yaqub, writing in 965, noted, “[a]nd as concerns the country of Mieszko, his is the vastest of the Slavic countries”.
What does modern archaeology tell us about these matters? To what degree can the discoveries made in various regions of Polish lands be acknowledged as sufficient?
These are but some of the many questions I shall try to answer on the pages of this monograph.
see also  on:
https://archeologia.com.pl/10-najwazniejszych-odkryc-polskiej-archeologii-2021/

The Cathedral Hill (in Polish: Góra Katedralna) in Chełm remains a symbol of splendour of the nearly 1000-year-long history of the town and at the same time constitutes a research enigma. For the last hundred years various scholars tried to establish the original topography of the Hill, which in its northern part (in Polish: Wysoka Górka, the High Hill) was supposed to be, according to the Halych-Volhynian Chronicle, the location of Prince Danylo Romanovich’s residence. This monograph presents results of research studies that were initiated once more in 2010 and lasted until 2018. Completed field studies show an extremely complicated, and at the same time colourful, image of the hill’s history, in which the ducal residence (since 1253 royal residence), built and used most probably between the second decade of 13th century and the second half of the 14th century, remains the key element.

We included to this interdisciplinary monograph the most important results of conducted research which were undertaken in the basilica from 2013 to 2014. It is the first scientific publication of the interdisciplinary research concerning one of the key architectural monuments from the medieval Polish – Rus border. The monograph
is the result of effective cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian researchers. From this point of view, it may be considered as a turning point in perceiving a common history of Poland and Ukraine.

The cemetery at Bodzia (Central Poland) dating back to the beginnings of the Polish state, remains so far the only one of its kind in Europe. It combines in an eclectic way various elements of burial rites. They seem to have been connected with the Slavic, nomadic cultures,  as well as the Western Scandinavian cultural circle (broadly defined zone of the Baltic Sea) and Rus-Varangian.  Some of the elements of funeral rites can be recognized as reminiscences from the distant past.
This book is an expanded and revised version of the monograph:  "Bodzia. A Late Viking Age Cemetery in Central Poland"  published by Brill (Leiden-Boston 2015). We hope that both versions - English and Polish, enrich significantly not only discussions about the forms of medieval funerary rituals, but also will make a lasting contribution to further research on the complex and still not fully understood episodes in the history of the formation social elites of Medieval Europe.

Early medieval monumental buildings in Poland, east of the river Vistula, are very scarce. The earliest, dating back to the beginning of the 11th century, appears to be a stone palatium and rotunda on the Castle Hill in Przemyśl. Much later, starting in the 13th century, brick was introduced for building purposes. Important evidence for tracking changes in the evolution of building materials and techniques, particularly in the transition from stone to brick, is provided by research on the Cathedral Hill in Chełm. Chełm was the centre of the Galych-Volyn Duchy from the 13th century. In that century it was rebuilt by Prince Daniel Romanowich, and it became his main residence, as well as the real capital of the Galych-Volyn Princedom. Despite the efforts of scholars, questions relating to the original plan of the residential complex, as well its evolution in time, remained unresolved for many years. Interdisciplinary studies resulting from two projects, carried out in 2010-2018, make it possible to present a hypothesis regarding the Chełm residential complex, including its transformations over time. Studies carried out in Chełm give us the opportunity to follow the evolution of building materials and techniques, from opus quadratum – through rubble masonry, a combination of materials (stone-brick-wood), to the use of brick only – which was observed for example in the Chełm basilica, founded around the middle of the 13th century. Detailed analyses showed that the main material used in the construction of residential buildings was sandstone, including green glauconitite. The organisers of the building projects recruited highly skilled builders who were experienced in using the stone available in the Chełm region. According to our research, the fundamental changes in monumental buildings, sited east of the Vistula River, took place in a relatively short period of time – between ca. 1240 and 1253. So far, Chełm has provided the earliest evidence of the use of Romanesque brick in secular and religious architecture. Therefore, the discoveries in Chełm are a convenient starting-point for researchers interested in the beginnings of brick architecture in central Europe.

The events of 966, informally called “the baptism of Poland”, whilst being fundamental within the over 1000-year history of the state, did not lead to the quick adoption of a new religion within society, nor to the immediate development of the Church’s infrastructure. The author analyzes some examples of archeological discoveries concerning relics of the earliest sacral architecture, presumed baptisteries, the oldest inhumation cemeteries and selected small finds relating to the Christian cult. Their dating, the circumstances of their creation, as well function are often ambiguous. Therefore, they have been for years a subject of debate by archaeologists and historians.

The article of T. Rysiewska and H. Rysiewski ([1991] 1992) contains statements of key importance for any attempts to understand formation processes of Polish Early Medieval towns. The presence on St Jacob's Hill in Sandomierz (Little Poland) of two settlements in the 11th century, of which one (the NW one) was postulated as the settlement of people of non-local origin, coming probably from Great Poland, succesively adopting the northern zone of the cemetery, is especially notable. This suggestion has a special importance in the light of the fact that it is in general agreement with the hypothesis formulated several years ago as a result of the pottery analysis by the present author that a part was played in the genesis of Early Medieval Sandomierz by Polane from Great Poland. Nevertheless the recent article contains debatable points, and some of the statements are in conflict with the data on which they are based. The present article is devoted to a discussion of these points.

The early medieval barrow cemetery at Kleczanów (Lesser Poland) reflects the oldest episodes of the history of the 9th century rural settlement dating back to the pre-state period. Since years it became the subject of discussion based on the phenomenon of survival, for over 1000 years, dozen burials placed in a small wood, on the deforested loess Uppland. The author believes that the cemetery for a long time became a place of remembrance of ancestors and unknown rituals.  Even in modern times, the grove at Kleczanów, where the burial mounds are placed,  played an important role in celebrations of Pentecost. The author suggests a possible correlation between some abandoned cemeteries and medieval holy groves.

For many european production centres pottery made of white-firing clays are distinguishing. The author characterizes the raw materials suitable for pottery making in the medieval Poland. At the same time, he points out that while in northern and central Poland raw materials are defined by ferruginous clays, in the south (Silesia, Lesser Poland) tertiary clays of various origins are also common. The subject of detailed characteristics in this paper are the tertiary raw materials of Lesser Poland and main questions referring to the appearance on the Polish territory of the medieval white ceramics.

Najstarsze średniowieczne świątynie chełmskie i archeologia Jednym z celów badań archeologicznych prowadzonych na terenie Chełma jest odtworzenie pierwotnej topografii tego ośrodka z czasów, gdy pełnił on funkcję nieformalnej stolicy księstwa halicko-wołyńskiego. Istotnym elementem krajobrazowym ówczesnego miasta były budowle monumentalne, zwłaszcza składające się na zespół rezydencjonalno-sakralny wybudowany na Górze Katedralnej przez księcia (od 1253 r. króla) Daniela Romanowicza. Na podstawie zapisów źródeł pisanych wiadomo, że w XIII w. na terenach obecnego miasta znajdowały się przynajmniej cztery świątynie (cerkwie). Nosiły one wezwania Bogurodzicy, św. Jana Złotoustego, św. św. Kosmy i Damiana oraz św. Trójcy. Wszystkie wymieniono z nazwy w Kronice halicko-wołyńskiej, ale żadna z nich nie przetrwała w krajobrazie współczesnego miasta. Dwie zostały udokumentowane w trakcie dotychczasowych prac archeologicznych. W niniejszym artykule zamieszczono uwagi dotyczące cech szczególnych tych budowli oraz możliwych miejsc ich lokalizacji.

The elite cemetery in Bodzia (from the late 10th to the early 11th centuries) hosts the deceased of foreign and local origin who had a strong sense of ideological and ethno-cultural bonds. According to
the results of the author’s latest research, a large tomb D162 played a pivotal role in the cemetery. It was originally built as a grave – a mausoleum with an entrance from the east. Over time, more graves with
enclosures were added to the existing tomb on the eastern side, imitating architecture of a primary grave. The successive burials in which remains of foreigners were identified represented the structural first degree elements of the cemetery. In line with the results of isotopic labelling, the group of people buried in this row is associated with newcomers from the Baltic (Scandinavian) zone.
In search of the sources of the idea and, further on, the model of the cemetery, attention was directed at the symbols and the structural elements of royal courts and rural aristocratic mansions, especially rectangular plots of land with enclosures as known from Denmark.

The Cathedral Hill in Chełm since many years is an object of interest for archaeologists and historians of architecture. Here, in its northern part, on an elevation called  "Wysoka Gorka"
multi-stratified  monumental architecture complexe have been unearthed in recent years and
identified as remains of King Daniel Romanovich's residence.  Its original form dated to the first half of the 13th c., remains a mystery. Was it, as suggested before  a simple one-part palatium or, as recent research suggests, a redeveloped multi-part complex whose remains unearthed over a century ago may have been a circumferential wall enclosing other architectural structures within its boundaries?
The idea of how the residential complex  looked bases on the assumption that, regardless of the aforementioned construction debacle, two structures  were being raised inside the circumferential wall from the very beginning. In other words, instead of a simple palatium, a temple and a stone tower  were erected inside the wall. During later development stages, new structures were built on the ruins of the two. Some of them, dating back to phase I, were appropriately modified to remain a part of the local landscape

The subject of this article is decoration of pottery treated as a means of communicating aesthetic and symbolic meaning by its makers (or/and users). The starting point are the ornaments of early medieval Polish pottery from VIth to XIIIth C. This means recognizable technical aspects (tools) and application of ornament, aesthetic (arrangement of ornament
on a vessel, ornamental motifs, symmetry or lack thereof) as well as symbolic meaning. The author discusses various levels of ornament analysis: starting with an element itself, through ornamental motif, to the configuration of motives on a vessel.

On the initiative of the Department for Studies on the Origins of the Polish State established in 1949 extensive archaeological excavations were undertaken throughout the country. Sandomierz with the whole its region was an important spot on the map of these research. Both historical places of worship and early urban centres dating back to the beginnings of the Polish State are located in the area. In the case of Sandomierz there are also written sources that prove the centre's exceptional significance at the dawn of the State of the First Piasts. It is not surprising that the expectations of both historians and archaeologists towards excavations conducted in the town area and the entire region were high from the very beginning. In the paper the most significant results of archaeological research that took place in the Sandomierz region in the years 1958-1968 were discussed.

Located on the high bank of the Vistula river, Zawichost (Little Poland) is surprisingly close (17 km) to Sandomierz. This is apparently (besides Western Pomerania), the only case in Medieval Poland of two medieval centers of such high rank situated so close together. Both were located at a strategic junction of roads which allowed control of a ford across the Vistula. In Sandomierz the route led to Przemyśl and Halicz and in Zawichost, towards Vladimir Volynski and Kiev. The Sandomierz and Zawichost junction played a pivotal role in controlling the routes leading from Poland to Ruthenia both at a regional and international scale. The main issue which engrosses the researchers is the relations between the two centers in the early stages of the state (late 10th-12 century) . Some historians belived that Zawichost did not compete with Sandomierz, but rather was an ‘indispensable complement’; the two towns formed a specific tandem blocking important fords on the Vistula, which, combined with the administrative and political functions, had a strategic character in this part of Little Poland. But in the light of the recent archaeological research, the material culture of Sandomierz and Zawichost are not really comparable.

1. Early cities: one or many definitions? 2. Ancient cities at the beginning of the early Middle Ages: the first symptoms of change. 3. Early urbanization of the Carolingian world and its periphery. 4. Urbanization of the western outskirts of Europe. 5. Proto-urban  centres in the landscape of northern Europe. 6. Central Europe: early urbanization of the Polish lands

Although the birthplace of the Piast state was Greater Poland , the written sources consistently relate ninth–century episodes to the territory of Lesser Poland. In this region they are some phenomena of distinguishing it from others.  But the unquestionable growth the Cracow Land during pre–state period did not translate into success in early state period, which occurred in Greater Poland. The author analyses possible scenarios relating to the formation of the oldest Piast domain occuring in the eastern part of this region.

The author discusses the achievements of archaeologists resulting from their research in eastern  Poland (Masovia, Little Poland),  carried out within last 15 years. Beside early medieval settlements,  the important topic of many investigations are cemeteries, burial rites, state formation processes and early urbanization of the borderlands. As Author states, many unanswered questions relates to the political centres located on the Polish-Rus borderland, which have been not sufficiently examined by the archaeologists. Due to this, they are defined as research priorities and challenges for the next future.

Archaeological  research on the Cathedral Hill in Chełm goes back to the early 20th century. According to the written sources here was located a palace erected in the mid of 13th century by Daniel Romanovich –  the ruler of the Galich-Volhynia Duchy. The latest research  provided remains of monumental architecture relative to the residential complex.  It has been suggested that the investment was interrupted as early as at the stage of construction. In all probabillity its eastern wall was collapsed due to a catastrophe.

Consensus and violence are the two narrative threads that are omnipresent in the tradition of the Polish dynastic legends. According to the oldest cronicles of Gallus Anonymous and Master Vincentius they constitute the foundations of the Piasts' origins. Greater difficulty is imposed when transferring the legendary data, which relate to places of the new dynastic nascence, into the data of archaeology.

As in archaeology we often deal with incomplete material,  the height of pottery is one of those parametrs , which are difficult to establish. In the literature  a hypothesis of a direct correlation of the diametres of bases and rims with the height of pottery was formulated. The article's aim is to show whether this theory is supported by the results of empirical studies.

The subject of the paper is so-called white pottery produced on the Polish Land in the medieval times.  The author presents examples of such products excavated in the Sandomierz  region (the Little Poland). He states that the term "medieval white pottery" covers heterogeneous qualities of raw materials such as properties, origin and their geological contexts.

The examples of selected finds and remains of the architectural monuments presented in the papaer point to a wide European context some discoveries carried out in the Little Poland. Their origin, in the majority of cases, may be connected with the tradition of the Byzantine-Ruthenian culture. We should not forget though that the finds of which we speak did not find imitations in later times. This may mean that for the local societies this culture was – in a longer perspective – ideologically strange and therefore its adaptation very scarce. Surely a barrier in the development of the described cultural trends were the further fate and history of the region.

Little Poland with Cracow –  the main urban political and administrative center , in the late tribal period (9th century)  was, according to many scholars, on the highest level of political and economic development of the whole Polish land. But what is surprising,  the idea of State consolidation was born not here, but in Great Poland which was not so rich, and not so well organized.

The changing features of pottery in technology, morphology and decoration, were observed long ago. It was noted that the changes could be defined on the axis of time and that often certain groups of products could be attributed to groups belonging to the same territorial or cultural community. The author analyses cases when certain forms of vessels, type of ornament or recipe for pottery clay became the distinguishing element of an archaeological culture in prehistoric and medieval times.

Little Poland had never been a single territorial, cultural or political unit. The division into Cracow and Sandomierz Lands from the begenning was fundamental. At the period when the state was formed, the two regions had different ranks. Little Poland was subordinated at that time at least to two separate political entities. The Cracow Land became subordinated to Great Moravia and then, from the early 10th  century, to the state of Bohemian Premyslids. Its eastern part belonged to the group paying tribute to Kievan Rus, and thus was politically dependent on it as late as in the first half of the 10th century.  In the late 9th century, Little Poland moved from the stage of organizational and economic prosperity to political catastrophe. The fall of the political rank of the Lędzianie and Vislane, the main communities of the region, was accompanied by the increased investments made in Great Poland. Most probably Little Poland with Cracow was from the very start an area desired by the founders of the new dynasty. However, also the Bohemian Premyslids had similar aspirations and what is more, in the period when Mieszko’s state was being created, they already had gained Cracow and at least the western part of the region. That is why the basic task of the Piast dynasty was to create a strategic outpost there. Such functions could have been fulfilled by a center which would take over the main political and administrative functions of the Gniezno state in the region, at least until Cracow was gained from the Bohemians. The archaeological data seem to indicate that the area of modern Sandomierz was chosen by Piast rulers.

Dominican monasteries became  a new element in the topography of cities in the Polish lands, since the 2nd quarter of the 13th century. Within  just a few years, they were established in Krakow, Wroclaw, Sandomierz, Kamień, Gdańsk and Płock. These cities also mark the longest ranges  of the Polish-Czech  province, founded in 1225. A particular role in the emergence of the oldest Dominican Convents was played by Cracow –  which became not only the ideological capital of Poland, but also the seat of the bishop Iwon Odrowąż -  the initiator of this undertaking.

Mediaeval historians as well as archaeologists have been intrigued by the beginning of Christianity in Poland. The interest intensified in 2016 when the country celebrated the 1050 th anniversary of the baptism of Poland. The accompanying discussions indicate that facing the ambiguous written sources , researchers still disagree about fundamental data like the year and the location of the baptism, its circumstances or material evidence of the events. An argument was put forward that in this context, celebrating the 1050 th anniversary of the baptism of Poland is groundless. Attention was drawn to the fact that baptism of the ruler and his entourage did not affect the country's inhabitants who remained pagans for a long time afterwards. In this article, I highlight some aspects of the research and the controversy surrounding the interpretation of archaeological finds from the beginning of Christianity in Poland. I also indicate other possibilities of interpreting the existing archaeological sources and the possible ways in further research.

The pottery marks from Kalisz (central Poland) are distinguished by the diversity of the forms and by the lack of identical signs. Furthermore, despite their diversity, there are no symbols which occur only at that site.  One group embraces a category of symbols so far unknown: in all cases they have the shape of a short line. This phenomena appeared in archaeological contexts dated to the second half of the 11th to the end of the 12th century and the end of the 12th to the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. In all cases the way in which the sign was formed can be described. They were made with the use of a stamp and/or engraved with a tool with a sharp or rounded tip. In one case the stamping was repeated and then the imprint was corrected (completed?) with a scribing tool near one edge of the sign. All the signs were placed on the outside and in the center of the vessel base; all have similar dimensions not exceeding 2 cm in length. Their width is determined by the kind and size of the tool used for marking. In the case of the miniature vessel  the context of the appearance (and the fact that the vessel was bottom upwards when it was made) are all particularly interesting as the sign of the line at the base of the vessel was visible. All these signs were certainly not accidental or connected with the process of production as they were intentionally placed on the wares. These signs differ considerably from the classic definition of the potter’s mark. The ‘typical’ signs embrace a varying in form but definitely more graphically developed and diversified repertoire. They do not consist of single lines but of geometric figures of different degrees of complexity. For that reason it is justifiable to associate them with the symbolic sphere.

The oldest settlements and towns on Polish Lands were established in the second half of 10th century, when the Polish state was born. Although many of them played a key role in the strengthening of the state of Polanie, not all of them became towns. Likewise, not always the importance of many medieval towns survived the modern times.
The article discussed the Polish towns, which  have one common feature:  namely they are over one thousand years old.

Remains of a stronghold in Busówno are preserved in the district of Chełm (south-eastern Poland), close to the border with Ukraine. The stronghold, composed of several  ramparts, take up approx. 7 hectares. The first survey of Busówno was carried out in 1978. Four trenches located within the external and internal ramparts, the area between them and the inner grounds, provided preliminary data on the fortifications and and their chronology from 7th–to 13th centuries.  Further excavations carried out in 2004-2005 focused on the chronology of the site and its role at the political and cultural borderland between Poland and Rus in the Early Middle Ages.

The subject of this article are  spatial arrangements of early urban Polish centers (X-XIIw.). It has been noted that the layout of medieval Radom preserves symmetrical, concentric plan, with the stronghold located in the middle. The question is,  to what extent such spatial arrangement repeats in other regions of the country or,  in this regard can be observed different patterns.

The problem of political, ideological and cultural interrelations on the Polish-Rus borderland over last decades is defined as a crucial point for many historians and archaeologists. The special role played the East Little Poland - the territory on both sides of upper Bug river. On the whole this is an area of high dynamics concerning ethnic and cultural changes between ideological,  political and miltary episodes, and can be examined through written sources and the material culture.

The studies carried out by the author showed, that in medieval grave pits they are, as a rule, very few and very small potsherds. They can be considered as seconadry refuse. For many archaeologists such finds are treated  as an indicator of terminus post-quem of grave fill. A research questions were posed, why it is that we find in grave content so few, and so small pieces of pottery? What are their origins and function and can they be used as chronological indicators? To answer such questions, ethnoarchaeological studies of two selected rural cemeteries were carried out.

Pottery from excavations, contrary to other materials used by man in the past, offer a wide prospective od analyses through interdisciplinary investigations. Such prospective is based on the following premises: 1. The durability of ceramic materials through the time, 2. The mass production of ceramics, 3. The wide range of pottery functions, 4. The porosity of vessels.  Questions mentioned above are decisive for archaeological interpretation.

Pottery from excavations since many years has been one of the most important archaeological evidence of the past. It is one of the most commonly occuring human inventions,  so close and so permanently present in everyday life of ancient man.
In the following paper, the general field  of pottery studies is outlined, this is followed by a discussion of some research questions  with practical applications, the consequences of which are wider then one site or one type of materials

The article deals with a question of whether or not, the funerary features discovered in Poland on the elite cemetery at Bodzia (late 10th - early 11th century) can be defined as chamber graves.  They exhibit almost all of the characteristics of chamber graves. But, on the other hand, there is no one consistent pattern. The only common feature of all of the graves is the large size of the burial pits. Hence, as the authore propose, the burial ground at Bodzia should be termed as ‘a graveyard of Bodzia type’, which would mean ‘a cemetery with burials in the type similar to chamber graves, richly furnished, situated in rows, and surrounded with ditches’.

Archaeologists examining the residence of Daniel Romanovych on Cathedral Hill in Chełm (thirteenth century) enjoy a noteworthy opportunity to compare excavations data with the text of Kronika
halicko-wołyńska (The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle). It is highly probable that at least some of the descriptions of places and objects in the Chronicle could have been fi rsthand. The article discusses the dilemmas of an archaeologist who, with assorted categories of data at his disposal, tries to confront them with a chronicler’s account.

Sformułowane w tytule rozdziału pytanie poddano próbie weryfikacji. Dla archeologa jej podstawę stanowić mogą obiekty i struktury osadnicze odkrywane w regionach, a także wybrane elementy kultury materialnej. W skali makro wykorzystano dane dotyczące chronologii i form budownictwa grodowego. W skali semi-makro – osobliwości archeologiczne z regionów. Wreszcie w skali mikro – wybrane cechy produkcji garncarskiej okresu przedpiastowskiego.

Minęło ponad pół wieku od czasu ukazania się pracy Aleksandra
Gardawskiego o plemionach kultury trzcinieckiej na ziemiach polskich. Autor rozprawy zapewne nie przypuszczał, że poprzez zawarte w tytule pracy określenie „plemiona”, mimowolnie włączył się w nurt burzliwej dyskusji określanej ogólnym mianem „archeologii etniczności”. Przyczyną wielu nieporozumień jest fakt, że archeologiczne definicje grup etnicznych bazują często na ekstrakcji wybranych artefaktów, ulokowanych w różnych praktykach społecznych, kontekstach i czasie, dla doraźnych potrzeb analizy.

Poszukiwaniom najstarszych świadectw chrześcijaństwa towarzyszą dylematy badań nie tylko historyków, ale i archeologów. Część badaczy uważa, że chrzest Mieszka I był
głównie aktem formalnym, legitymizacją nowej władzy we wspólnocie europejskiej „christianitas”. Państwo Mieszka I, przez oddanie go w opiekę Stolicy Piotrowej (por. regest
dokumentu Dagome iudex) stało się aktywnym podmiotem sceny europejskiej (por. Labuda 2003; w cytowanej pracy literatura). Ale zarazem uważa się, że wydarzenie to,
aczkolwiek fundamentalne, w perspektywie 1000-letnich dziejów państwa nie miało bezpośredniego wpływu, przynajmniej do końca X w., na proces chrystianizacji kraju.
Tym samym przyjmuje się, że początek przełomu datować należy dopiero na okres po roku 1000 (czasy Chrobrego i jego następców). Argumentem na rzecz tej tezy ma być
brak poświadczonych archeologicznie świadectw monumentalnych inwestycji kościelnych. Jak rozstrzygnąć przedmiotowe kwestie? Czy archeologia dostarcza odpowiednio
silnych przesłanek wnioskowania w tym względzie? Poniżej przedstawiamy ważniejsze elementy toczącego się sporu oraz blaski i cienie dotychczasowych interpretacji.

Tematem frapującym od lat wielu badaczy jest rola Małopolski w procesie formowania
się państwa polskiego oraz zamieszkujące to terytorium wspólnoty osadnicze.
W perspektywie archeologicznej szczególnie intrygująca jest usytuowana w zachodniej części regionu ziemia krakowska. Tutaj zlokalizowane są monumentalne kopce Krakusa i Wandy. Osobliwością ziemi krakowskiej są też wielkie grody, a charakterystycznym elementem ich kultury materialnej  unikatowe produkcje tzw. ceramiki białej.  W okresie formowania państwa tu skoncentrowany był największy potencjał gospodarczy, w tym miejsca eksploatacji surowców. Dlaczego zatem nie tutaj,ale w Wielkopolsce ukształtowały się zręby państwa polskiego? Kwestiom tym poświęcamy na stronach artykułu więcej uwagi

The period covering the 12th and 13th c. can be described as one of an intensive development as well as reorganisation of settlement structures. In the first half of the 12th c. the system based on fortified settlements (grody) was being replaced by principalities, or duchies, and a new system of economic management of the state. During that time in other regions Christianisation had already been considerably advanced. We can observe significant changes in craftsmen’s production and spatial organisation of towns and village settlements. Finally, the mid-13th c. marks the watershed of Tartar raids after which towns entered a new stage of development, ie an organisation based on foundation charters under the Magdeburg law. In the 2nd half of the 13th c. construction of forts rapidly declined, to be successively replaced with first stone and then brick castles.

Sandomierz located in southern Poland, has a long history going back to the origins of the Polish State. From the begennings of statehood  it had important functions in the political and and administrative system of governing the state. Author focuses on the problem whether the first early urban centre formed thanks to the changes resulting from the internal development in the region or, the town originated as a result of state formation processess in the mid of 10th century.

Remains of three medieval stone towers are curiosities of the Chełm Land. They are located on the Cathedral Hill
in Chełm, in Chełm-Bieławin and in Stołpie. The latter is the only one which has survived throughout the centuries in its
almost original form, even though it was modified and restored in the past. In contrast, the tower from Bieławin has been
almost completely destroyed. The remains of the tower (or towers) from the Cathedral Hill in Chełm are hidden among
ruins of the presently excavated residence complex of King Daniel of Galicia, in the south part of the hill.
Each of the above-named towers are similar in form and they all date back to the 13th century. However, many features
which clearly distinguish them can be pointed out at the same time. Chosen aspects of the study of these structures
are presented in the paper.

Pytanie zawarte w tytule artykułu może budzić
zdziwienie, jako że zasługi Józefa Kostrzewskiego
w badaniach polskiego średniowiecza są niepodważalne.
Tymczasem on sam uważał się za prahistoryka, co niejednokrotnie deklaruje na stronach "Pamiętnika" .  Co więcej, wśród jego licznych prac zdecydowanie przeważają poświęcone zagadnieniom epok starszych. W  jakim stopniu można zatem go traktować jako badacza wczesnego średniowiecza - to  wiodący wątek niniejszego artykułu